The Renault-Nissan Alliance factory at Oragadam, near Chennai, India – the first dedicated Alliance facility in which Nissans and Renaults are made side-by-side – is a modern and highly efficient plant producing top quality cars.

But there’s more. It’s now officially one of India’s safest and most environmentally-friendly factories, too.

That’s according to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which has given the plant its top award for excellence in Environmental Health and Safety.

Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL) beat 13 other automotive manufacturers to win the award, thanks to the adoption of a series of advanced energy saving and safety procedures that, says the CII, are ‘path-breaking rather than mere bench-marking practices’.

Water, for example, is a scarce commodity in Chennai. So the factory supplies much of its own… with a little help from above. Every drop of rain that falls on the plant’s roof – an area covering some 300,000 square meters – is harvested, providing 70 per cent of the plant’s needs.

The factory, which produces the Nissan Micra and Sunny as well as the Renault Pulse, Fluence and Koleos, also has a zero discharge policy – all effluent and processed water is treated and then reused rather than being pumped out into the local environment.

And by adopting Japanese Kiken Yochi safety procedures, which predict and prevent dangers before they happen, the plant has just 0.944 injuries per million man hours compared with an industry norm between 1 and 2.